TUTORIAL - Hand Embroidery

I love ALL things personalized. I don't have a fancy dancy (that is a technical term, btw!) embroidery machine. Besides, I kind of like the hand stitched look. It is very very easy to do...

You need a couple of things... embroidery needle (I use whatever needle I can find... bad bad me.. I know), embroidery floss (Joann's $0.37), hoop - size that fits your fabric, fabric, and design.

1. Go to your computer and print out something you like. Lean towards the line drawings or fonts that don't have alot of difference between their width. (If you want some "Love" copy and paste this image into Word and manipulate it to fit your fabric.

2. Each of us has a light box in our home... it is called a window. You need daylight to do this step... SORRY, but wait til the sun is up. Tape the design to your window, then tape your fabric over that.

With a pencil, trace your design.

3. Place in hoop and start stitching! Try to keep your stitch widths the same, and if it starts to pucker you are pulling the thread too tight. If your hoop is not big enough don't worry, just move your hoop throughout your design. Play with the number of stands you use. On something like my LOVE pillow... I used three stands.

4. Try not to go too crazy in your home with this.... it is really cool though!!!! OOOOOHHHHH the possibilities!